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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE HIGH-PRIEST TO ALEXANDER by ALFRED TENNYSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: GO FORTH, THOU MAN OF FORCE!
Last Line: IN HIS HOLY OF HOLIES FOR EVER!
Subject(s): ALEXANDER THE GREAT (356-323 B.C.); JEWS; JUDAISM;

GO forth, thou man of force!
The world is all thine own;
Before thy dreadful course
Shall totter every throne.
Let India's jewels glow
Upon thy diadem:
Go, forth to conquest go,
But spare Jerusalem.
For the God of gods, which liveth
Through all eternity,
'T is he alone which giveth
And taketh victory:
'T is he the bow that blasteth,
And breaketh the proud one's quiver;
And the Lord of armies resteth
In his Holy of Holies for ever!

For God is Salem's spear,
And God is Salem's sword;
What mortal man shall dare
To combat with the lord?
Every knee shall bow
Before his awful sight;
Every thought sink low
Before the Lord of might.
For the God of gods, which liveth
Through all eternity,
'T is he alone which giveth
And taketh victory:
'T is he the bow that blasteth,
And breaketh the proud one's quiver;
And the Lord of armies resteth
In his Holy of Holies for ever!





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